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Flood Action Week: How to Protect Your Home from Flooding

Increasingly unpredictable weather in the UK is putting more homes at risk of flooding every year (Source: BBC). During Flood Action Week we wanted to take time to help homeowners understand their flood risk and take steps to prepare – which can help you save £1000’s if the worst happens.

1 in 4 properties are at risk

Recent data from Flood Re shows that one in four properties in the UK are at risk of flooding. While this might seem surprising, the risk isn’t limited to properties near rivers or the coast. Heavy rain, surface water, and overflowing drains can all lead to flooding, even in urban areas that haven’t flooded in the past.

The benefits of flood preparation

Taking action before a flood doesn’t just help keep you and your family safe – it can also save time, money, and stress during recovery.

Research from Flood Re shows that:

  • The average cost of repairing a flooded home is around £67,663. But for households that have prepared in advance, this drops to £24,000.
  • The average “drying time” for a flood-prepared home is 10 days, compared to 77 days for an unprepared one.
  • And the average time spent in alternative accommodation drops from a massive 210 days to 0 – meaning you can stay in your home throughout the recovery process.

Flood preparation isn’t just a safety measure, it’s a financial and emotional safeguard too.

Is your home at risk of flooding?

According to research from The ABI, 25% of UK adults don’t know if their current home is at risk of flooding and storm damage.

Depending on where you live, you can check your property’s flood risk level on the following websites:

Additionally, particularly during autumn and winter, we recommend you keep an eye out for UK weather warnings here: www.weather.metoffice.gov.uk/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings

Practical tips for preparing your home

1 in 10 UK adults have experienced flood or storm damage in their current home. 45% of them said that they wish they had taken more steps to mitigate against it (Source: The ABI). Luckily, there are a number of steps you can take to prepare your property and belongings. These include:

  1. Making sure you know how to turn off your gas, water and electricity in case you need to leave your home during a flood
  2. Moving valuable/sentimental items and important documents upstairs or placing them into waterproof containers
  3. Investing in sandbags to place in front of your doors and windows, which can reduce the amount of water coming in
  4. Cleaning out gutters at least twice a year. This keeps them free of leaves and debris that could lead to water damage to the roof and walls
  5. Checking your home insurance policy to understand what is and isn’t covered when it comes to extreme weather

You should also consider preparing an emergency grab bag, which can be useful in many extreme weather scenarios. Flood Re has prepared a list of suggested items to put into an emergency grab bag, which you can read here: https://www.floodre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Flood-Re-Floodmobile-Flood-Kit.pdf

Be prepared and stay protected

Flooding can be devastating, but preparation makes all the difference. With just a few proactive steps, you can reduce damage, speed up recovery, and potentially save tens of thousands of pounds in repairs and disruption.

This Flood Action Week, take the time to check your risk, make a plan, and ensure your insurance is up to date. Being prepared today could make all the difference tomorrow.

Who Are Defaqto and What Does a 5 Star Defaqto Rating Mean?

About Defaqto

What is Defaqto?

Defaqto is one of the UK’s most trusted sources of financial product and market intelligence. They support financial institutions, intermediaries and consumers to make smarter financial decisions. Defaqto maintain the UK’s largest financial product database, using research to develop independent ratings, insights and technology.

How long has Defaqto been operating?

Defaqto has been providing independent financial product analysis for over 30 years.

Who owns Defaqto?

Defaqto is part of Fintel plc, but maintain editorial independence from all financial services providers. This means their ratings remain unbiased and objective.

 

About Star Ratings

What are Defaqto Star Ratings?

Defaqto Star Ratings are expert, unbiased assessments of financial products based on features and benefits. Their ratings range from 1 to 5 Stars, with 5 Stars representing an excellent product with a broad range of features and benefits.

How often are Star Ratings updated?

Defaqto conducts an extensive annual review of all Star Ratings, publishing updated ratings on 1st February each year.

Defaqto also updates sole product ratings whenever providers launch new products or make significant changes to existing products. This means that Star Ratings remain accurate and up-to-date, giving consumers confidence in the quality assessments they rely on.

What products does Defaqto rate?

Defaqto rates products across insurance, banking, investments, pensions, life & protection and many others. For more details, please visit www.defaqto.com/star-ratings.

How does Defaqto decide which features to include in their analysis?

Defaqto’s feature selection process combines expert knowledge, primary research, and input from providers in the market. This allows them to evaluate aspects that matter most to consumers.

Defaqto vs Trustpilot/Feefo?

Defaqto and Trustpilot/Feefo both play important roles in making smarter financial decisions. Defaqto is one of the UK’s most trusted sources of financial product and market intelligence.

Trustpilot and Feefo look to represent the voice of the customer, providing reviews based on customer experience. Defaqto’s ratings alongside Trustpilot and Feefo’s customer reviews provides a powerful combination when looking for a suitable financial product.

 

About the Ratings Process

How does Defaqto ensure their ratings are unbiased?

Defaqto’s ratings are based on objective analysis of product features and benefits. They don’t consider price, provider size, or commercial ties when determining ratings.

Why doesn’t Defaqto use a bell curve approach like some competitors?

Defaqto shows clear quality boundaries for each rating level instead of limiting the number of products that can achieve each rating. If a product meets their criteria for a 5 Star Rating, it will receive that rating regardless of how many other products achieve the same standard.

What are Core Criteria?

Core Criteria are minimum standards for essential features that apply to 3, 4, and 5 Star rated products. These ensure that highly rated products meet customer expectations for fundamental benefits.

Who Requires Non-Standard Insurance?

Non-standard insurance applies in a situation that doesn’t fit under “standard” policy limits. It’s for cases where the property or the person’s circumstances require bespoke cover to make sure they’re protected.

It’s important to understand whether your customer falls into this category. Failure to do so could result in them being uninsured and without the correct protection in place. This leaves them at risk of high costs should they need to claim.

Uinsure Non-Standard insurance policies cover anything outside the limits of our standard home insurance policies. This is £1m for buildings and up to £100k contents. But there are various means that can lead to a property or person falling into the non-standard insurance category.

1. Non-Standard Construction and Listed Buildings

Standard home insurance assumes properties are built from brick or stone with slate or tiled roofs. Anything outside this is non-standard, which includes:

  • Timber-framed homes, prefab builds, concrete houses and cob or wattle and daub constructions;
  • Houses with flat or thatched roofs;
  • Barn conversions and eco-builds often fall into non-standard property types too;
  • Properties protected for architectural or historical reason, known as listed buildings.

2. Unoccupied Buildings and Second/Holiday Homes

Homes that are unoccupied for more than 60 days or used as second/holiday homes will likely require non-standard insurance.

In most cases if a property is used as a primary home but ends up being unoccupied for 60 days or longer then the insurance company will ask to be informed. It provides a greater risk of burglaries or problems arising with nobody there to notice them, such as burst pipes.

If it is already known that the property will be unoccupied at the time of getting insurance quotes, it falls into the non-standard category.

3. Buildings with a History of Flooding or Subsidence

Homes that have suffered from subsidence, heave, landslip or flooding in the last 25 years are considered higher risk and typically require non-standard insurance. In the case of subsidence, even if the issue has been resolved, insurers will usually continue to treat it as a potential risk due to the chance of further structural problems or the subsidence returning.

Similarly, properties located in areas with a known history of flooding usually require non-standard cover. This includes homes that have flooded in the past or are located near bodies of water. To check if a property is classed as being in a flood-risk area check the following websites:

England: GOV.UK

Wales: Natural Resources Wales

Scotland: SEPA

Northern Ireland: Department for Infrastructure

Uinsure usually covers up to £1million for loss or damage to your buildings caused by events such as storms and flooding, plus up to £200,000 for temporary housing for family and pets if your home is not safe to live in following an insured event. But, this could amount to much more in high-risk areas. As a result, non-standard insurance will likely be needed.

4. Properties with Ongoing Building Works

Properties that are undergoing building work often require non-standard insurance because the presence of tradespeople, tools, scaffolding, and structural changes increases the risk of damage and accidents. Insurers see active renovation or construction as a risk that falls outside of a standard home policy.

  • Building work in this context includes major alterations such as:
  • Structural changes (e.g. extensions, removing load-bearing walls, loft conversions);
  • Roof replacements;
  • Internal reconfiguration or significant plumbing/electrical rewiring;
  • Garage conversions or adding outbuildings.

Typically building work that doesn’t require non-standard insurance would be smaller changes like decorating (painting or changing flooring), minor non-structural repairs like replacing a door or tap, and kitchen or bathroom refits that don’t involve plumbing changes.

5. Mid-High Net Worth Policies

Mid–high net worth policies often require non-standard insurance due to the higher overall value and complexity of what’s being insured. These are typically for people whose properties exceed standard rebuild costs (usually £500,000 or more) and whose contents include high-value items such as fine art, jewellery, antiques or bespoke furnishings.

Uinsure’s non-standard insurance offers coverage outside of the standard £1m for buildings and up to £100k for contents. Mid-high net worth policies refer to customers with higher value buildings and/or contents than this.

6. People with an Adverse Claims History

An adverse claims history refers to a record of frequent and/or high-value insurance claims made by an person in the past. Insurers use this history as an indicator of risk. A pattern of repeated or significant claims may suggest that the individual’s property or circumstances present a higher likelihood of future claims.

This doesn’t necessarily imply fraud or negligence. But, from an underwriting perspective it places the policyholder outside the risk profile preferred for standard home insurance.

This can also include people who have had home insurance policies declined or cancelled by the insurer.

7. Individuals with Criminal Convictions

Having an unspent criminal conviction can make it harder to access standard home insurance. Many mainstream insurers consider criminal records a potential risk factor. This particularly applies if the conviction relates to fraud, theft, or property damage.

In these situations, non-standard home insurance offers a practical solution. It is able to provide cover so people with past or pending convictions can still protect their home and belongings.

Now you know what type or customers and properties fall into non-standard insurance, take a look at our non-standard insurance page so you can get a better view of the type of cover Uinsure offers in these circumstances.

Click here to view our non-standard insurance page.

Or, click here to view our non-standard insurance crib sheet.

If you already work with Uinsure, you can refer your non-standard customers by following the link and selecting ‘non-standard’ to ensure it ends up with the correct team: quotes.uinsure.co.uk/referral-progress/

Tips to Heatproof Your Home This Summer

Whilst you might spend less time in your home and more time outside in the summer sun, we wanted to share our tips to keep your house cool and protected whilst it’s hot.

Keeping it cool

Here’s how you can stop your home from keeping in the heat when it’s too warm:

1. Open windows on opposite sides of the house to encourage air flow throughout. If you have a multi-storey home open the windows upstairs so when the hot air rises it’s not trapped up there.

2. Close curtains or blinds during the day, especially on sunny sides of the house. This will prevent the sun from heating up your home.

3. Invest in an electric fan, which can be purchased at a fairly low cost. For an extra cool breeze place a bowl of ice in front of the fan.

4. When possible, limit heat-producing activities. This includes using the oven, hairdryers and having hot showers and baths.

Protecting your garden

We often talk about protecting your home but with the sunshine we’ve got gardens on our mind too. Here are some tips for securing your garden and any property you keep in it:

1. Keep Your Back Door and Gate Locked

Even if you’re only stepping out briefly, always lock your back door and garden gate. Many garden gates use a sliding pad bolt and padlock, but people often skip the padlock out of convenience, leaving an easy entry point for burglars.

2. Secure Your Shed or Outbuilding

If you store valuable items like tools, office equipment, or gym gear in an outdoor building, they may only be covered by your home insurance if there’s clear evidence of forced entry. Make sure to keep it locked. For enhanced security add motion sensor lights, a security camera, and a burglar alarm.

3. Protect Your Garden Furniture

Most home insurance policies don’t cover damage from general wear and tear. So make sure you use appropriate covers for your garden furniture when not in use. If possible, store it in a dry, secure place during the colder months to protect it from bad weather.

4. Secure Ornaments and Expensive Garden Equipment

Deter thieves by securing garden ornaments and valuable outdoor equipment. When you finish using tools, toys, or gardening equipment, store them safely in a shed or garage instead of leaving them out where thieves can easily grab them.

Contents in the open and garden items are protected up to £1000 with a Uinsure Home Insurance policy.

 

Got a sinking feeling?

Subsidence is when the ground beneath a property sinks or shifts, causing the building’s foundations to move. This movement can result in cracks to walls, ceilings, and brickwork. If left untreated it may lead to serious structural damage.

Why does subsidence get worse in hot weather?

Subsidence tends to worsen during periods of hot and dry weather because soil shrinks as it dries out. This shrinkage removes support from the building’s foundations, leading them to drop or shift unevenly.

Prolonged heatwaves can also dry out tree roots. They then draw more moisture from the surrounding ground in search of water. This increases the risk of subsidence for nearby properties.

What you should look out for

Homeowners should keep an eye out for tell-tale signs of subsidence, including large cracks in walls, especially those wider than 3mm (about the width of a £1 coin). These cracks often appear around doors and windows or where an extension meets the main building.

Other indicators include doors and windows sticking or becoming misaligned, uneven floors, or visible ripples in wallpaper not caused by damp. If you notice any of these signs, seek professional advice promptly to assess the situation.

If you’re unsure about what your home insurance does and doesn’t cover when it comes to topics like your garden and subsidence, check your policy documents.

 

If you’re a Uinsure customer…

If you have a policy with Uinsure and you need to make a claim, click here to find our claims page.

Or, if you’d rather speak to us on the phone, give us a call on 0344 844 3844.

Protecting Your Home: Why Do You Need Home Insurance?

“Do I really need home insurance?” is a fair question, especially if you’re a first time buyer. But it’s not just a formality, it’s a necessity to prevent you from being out of pocket due to damage to your home, and sometimes your personal property.

First, what is home insurance?

As you might guess from the name, home insurance protects your home. You can choose building insurance, contents insurance, or both.

Buildings insurance covers your home for damage caused by accidents or extreme weather, such as fires, storms or flooding. If you choose contents insurance (which majority of home insurers include or offer as an add-on) it covers the repair or replacement of personal items if they’re stolen or damaged.

In simple terms, home insurance provides additional peace of mind that your home and/or belongs are protected.

Exclusions apply. Please refer to your policy wording booklet to see what is and isn’t covered.

What’s the likelihood of having to use home insurance?

In 2022 the UK Fire and Rescue Services attended 185,437 fire incidents (Source: GOV.UK). In 2023 it was estimated that 5.5 million homes and businesses in England were at risk of flooding (Source: GOV.UK).

If home and contents can partially be recovered, the average fire restoration cost is still a massive £35,681 (Source: Checkatrade). This causes a huge amount of financial stress added to an already difficult situation.

A flooded home costs an average of £4500 to repair (Source: This is Money). Not quite the shocking figure that the average fire restoration costs, but still a large sum of money for the average UK homeowner.

Home insurance not only protects you from these costs, but can provide cover for additional living expenses if you are forced to temporarily relocate into alternative housing. This can include the cost of a hotel and meals while your home is being repaired.

Finally, having buildings insurance is a requirement of mortgage lenders. As you can tell from the statistics, it’s not just a formality. Mortgage lenders need to make sure that the property they are lending on is protected. This reduces losses not just for themselves but for the homeowners too.

 

Looking for home insurance?

If this article has done its job in showing why home insurance is so important, speak to your financial adviser to get a quote.

 

Sources:

GOV.UK (Fire and Rescue Incident Statistics England Year Ending September 2022)

GOV. UK (Flood Action Week: Households Need to Know Their Flood Risk After 2023’s Record Breaking Weather)

CheckATrade (Fire Damage Restoration Cost)

This is Money (A Flooded Home Costs £4500 Repair Research Shows)

How Regular Home Maintenance Will Save You Time, Money and Stress

Keeping your home well-maintained is valuable for more reasons than just improving the property’s appearance. In this article we’re going to discuss some of these reasons, so you can understand how to improve your physical and financial safety through property maintenance.

 

Your financial safety

Being on top of property maintenance protects your finances in a couple different ways.

When it comes to selling or renting your home, potential buyers and tenants are likely to look into how well maintained the property is. Spotting problems that buyers will have to fix themselves could make them inclined to offer a lower price, or put them off the property entirely.

Plus, not maintaining your property often has a knock-on effect that could cause further issues. This can be more expensive than keeping the property in good condition in the first place.

For example, a build-up of debris in your gutters can ultimately lead to water flowing to the wrong places. This can result in damage to foundations, walls, roofs, windows and more. The average cost of gutter cleaning in the UK is £20-£30 per hour (Source: Checkatrade). The average cost of roof repair in the UK is £650, and up to £1100 depending on damage and size of your property (Source: Roofing Association).

There are many examples we could give of these knock-on effects caused by not maintaining property. The one thing most of them have in common is that the repairs are more expensive and time consuming than keeping your property well maintained in the first place.

 

Your physical safety

More important than protecting yourself financially is protecting your physical safety.

In 2020 roughly 2.7 million UK citizens had to make a trip to the hospital due to an accident that happened in their home (Source: National Accident Helpline). We could be avoiding some of these issues with proper maintenance to keep your home safe and comfortable.

Some home maintenance and improvements methods include:

  • Repairing stairs and banisters to reduce the likelihood of tripping and falling
  • Purchasing electrical socket covers, especially if you have young children at home
  • Testing your fire and carbon monoxide alarms regularly
  • Installing loft and/or cavity wall insulation and double glazing to reduce breathing issues that are linked to cold temperatures. This also reduces your energy bills in the long-run
  • Checking your roof is well maintained, especially in the winter, to reduce likelihood of tiles coming loose in the wind

Many of the above points are even more important for older homes. They are more likely to have worn-out systems that need to be updated to meet current safety standards.

 

In summary

It’s important to keep your property well maintained for a number of reasons. It is cheaper and less dangerous if you can catch and fix problems early on rather than waiting for them to become critical issues.

This is especially important for older homes and during times when bad weather is more likely to damage already weakened areas of your home.

Home and Landlords insurance is designed to financially protect you should something unexpected happen to your property. Failure to maintain your property can lead to damage. Because reasonable precautions were not taken to prevent it, your insurer may not cover this.

 

Sources:

CheckATrade (Gutter Cleaning Cost)

Roofing Association (How Much Does a Roof Repair Cost in the UK)

National Accident Helpline (Accidents Home)

Buildings and Contents Insurance: What is it?

Buildings and Contents insurance are two separate types of insurance. They protect different aspects of your home. 

Buildings insurance covers the structure of your home and permanent fixtures, such as walls, roof, and flooring. It’s a mandatory requirement of a mortgage. Homeowners typically have to have this in place before they can buy a property.

Contents insurance covers possessions inside your home – typically things that you would take with you if you moved house. This includes furniture and electrical items, such as fridges and televisions. On some policies it includes likes of mobile phones and push-bikes. Contents insurance isn’t compulsory but can provide peace of mind and financial protection in the event of theft, damage, or loss.

Both types of insurance can provide valuable protection. But, it’s important to understand the differences and choose the coverage that best meets your needs.

Determining whether you need buildings or contents insurance, or both, depends on your specific needs. Here are a few factors to consider when deciding which type(s) of insurance to purchase:

Homeownership:

If you own your home, you will typically need buildings insurance to protect the structure of your home and permanent fixtures. If you rent your home, you may not need buildings insurance. However, you may still want to consider contents insurance to protect your personal belongings. 

Mortgage: 

If you have a mortgage on your home, your lender will require you to have buildings insurance.

Personal belongings: 

Consider the value of the personal belongings in your home. Think of the expensive items in your home – jewellery, tech, artwork. You may want these items included in your contents insurance policy to protect them.

 

Ultimately, it’s important to carefully review the coverage limits and exclusions of any insurance policy before purchasing. This can ensure it meets your needs. It’s also a good idea to compare quotes from multiple insurers to find the best coverage at the most affordable price.

Uinsure automatically provides quotes from leading UK insurers who compete to offer you their best available price. This makes it easy for you to pick the cheapest. 

What is Subsidence and What Do I Do if my Property Has Subsided?

Subsidence is the gradual sinking or settling of the ground surface. It can happen naturally or because of human activity, such as underground mining, oil and gas extraction, or groundwater pumping. Subsidence can cause injury to structures and infrastructure. It can also lead to flooding and different hazards. It’s necessary to be able to spot signs and symptoms of subsidence in order to mitigate the risks.

The most apparent sign of subsidence is a seen sinking in the floor surface. This can be a small vicinity or a giant area, and may be accompanied by cracks appearing in the floor or pavement. Another sign of subsidence is cracks in the walls or foundations of buildings. These cracks are usually diagonal or stair-stepped, and can be wider at the top opposed to the bottom.

A more obvious sign is the tilting or leaning of structures, such as buildings, bridges, or fences. This was the case with the Crooked House Pub which was ‘crooked’ because of mining in the area. Doorways and home windows can also be tough to open or close, and flooring can end up uneven due to subsidence.

If you suspect subsidence, you should contact a geotechnical engineer to investigate the situation. They will be in a position to decide the purpose of the subsidence and recommend what you should do next.

Can subsidence be repaired?

Subsidence can be repaired and properties can still be made safe. Here are a few ways this can be done:

  • Underpinning: Strengthening the basis of the construction by digging deeper foundations or putting in new ones.
  • Grouting: Injecting a grout combination into the floor to fill voids and stabilise the soil.
  • Compaction grouting: Injecting a grout combination into the floor to fill voids and compact the soil.
  • Drainage: Putting in drainage structures to get rid of extra water from the soil, lowering the hazard of subsidence.

Win-Win Partnerships: How Insurance Referrals Expand Your Value Proposition

In today’s digital world, the long and tedious insurance referral processes advisers were traditionally used to have been long been forgotten about.

If you’re not offering GI, then referring to insurtech businesses will be a seamless, digital solution that enhances your own value proposition, here’s why…

Digital-first for digitally minded clients

Technological advances in this space mean referrals are a seamless extension of our partners’ businesses and they’re proving to be the solution for many who want to keep hold of the customer without doing the leg work.   

Referrals take as little as 30 seconds via a quick online form fill and from there on in, communications are delivered digitally to clients meaning customers are able to buy their cover at their convenience through a simplified journey than can be completed in under a minute – significantly quicker than the price comparison sites they may be used to.

Transparent, accessible and hassle-free

Historically, advisers lost sight of a referral once submitted but there’s now full transparency of what stage referrals are at through real time updates that show events down to the granular level of attempting to reach a customer.

And today’s online platforms provide clients with easy access to comprehensive policy details, coverage options, and pricing information, allowing them to make informed decisions so they get the coverage they need without any hassle.

Your partner is responsible for GI compliance

The new Duty places increased emphasis on good customer outcomes. For GI, this means the customer has the right levels of cover, the right product and that any vulnerabilities have been properly addressed.  

Your referral partner becomes responsible for the compliance given they’re the ones offering the advice.

There’s more than just a monetary benefit  

Referrals to us have increased significantly in the last few months with many highlighting both the impending Duty and time restraints for doing so.  

And it’s not lost on our partners that by keeping a client’s insurance business they’re both retaining a valuable annual touchpoint as well as removing the need for them to take their data to price comparison websites where they will inevitably be then cross-sold parallel products. 

As a result, advisers are using easily tracked, fully personalised and seamlessly integrated referrals to boost today’s revenues and protect future business income by preventing the need for clients to go elsewhere with their data. 

How to Ensure Compliance With The New Consumer Duty; Q&A With Uinsure’s Brionie Hemingway

Making sense of the changes can be complex but with The Duty coming into force on 31st July, we caught up with Uinsure’s Chief Governance Officer, Brionie Hemingway, who has helped to shed light on exactly what firms have been asked to do.

What worked well in preparation for Consumer Duty?

The Duty is very broad but breaking it down into manageable chunks and prioritising certain elements of the work was key for us but, in addition to that, it is invaluable to talk to partners about how you can support each other.

If you take the Fair Value Assessment as an example, it’s important to understand how each party in the chain – whether that be insurer, distributor or manufacturer – is supporting value and how they’re supporting customers’ financial objectives. Fair Value as an outcome, is a combination of efforts from all parties to joined up understanding is important. 

How do you demonstrate a customer outcome?

This is a bit of a holy grail within the industry and has typically been evidenced through the likes of NPS scores, as one example, but there can be a lot more to it.

I think it’s really important to use both qualitative and quantitative information, so you have in-depth data together with wide ranging case studies that support the consumer metrics to paint a collective picture. 

How do you continually prove fair value?

GI firms will already have grappled with fair value, but it is still a fundamental part of the new Consumer Duty; fair value isn’t the same thing as offering a rock bottom price though. It’s about reasonable remuneration for work done or service delivery. Price is one aspect of value, but quality of cover and accessibility of services are really relevant too. 

We believe assessing fair value involves a detailed process of weighing up the cost to serve and the utility of products versus the amount of money actually leaving the customer’s pocket.

Continuous holistic assessment is needed because factors like customer circumstances, technology and the wider market are changing all the time. Services like claims processes and access to useful add-ons are features that can add value, or just as easily detract value, so keeping on top of service provision fits right into the value assessment. 

Can you ever be fully compliant or is it an ongoing exercise?

This is a really important point. Every time new regulation or initiatives come into force, firms naturally spend a lot of energy getting ready for the ‘go live’ date and can then have something of drop off while other business priorities come back to the fore. 

With the new Consumer Duty, elements like the delivery of outcome are going to be very much an ongoing exercise and one that is always evolving as the industry itself changes and the technology we use continues to improve. 

The FCA has already made it clear that Consumer Duty will be an ongoing feature and we need to deliver a report to the board on an annual basis to evidence we are continuously meeting the standards. As a result, it should really form part of the fabric of all organisations from here on in – if it isn’t already.

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